Position paper on critical care pharmacy services

Objective: The goal of the Task Force on Critical Care Pharmacy services wa s to identify and describe the scope of practice that characterizes the cri tical care pharmacist and critical care pharmacy services. specifically, th e aims were to define the level of clinical practice and specialized skills characterizing the critical care pharmacist as clinician, educator, resear cher, and manager; and to recommend fundamental, desirable, and optimal pha rmacy services and personnel requirements for the provision of pharmaceutic al care to critically ill patients. Hospitals having comprehensive resource s as well as those with more limited resources were considered. Data Sources: Consensus opinion of critical care pharmacists from instituti ons of various sizes providing critical care services within several types of pharmacy practice models was obtained, including community-based and aca demic practice settings. Existing guidelines and literature describing phar macy practice and medication use processes were reviewed and adapted for th e critical care setting, Conclusions: By combining the strengths and expertise of critical care phar macy specialists with existing supporting literature, these recommendations define the level of clinical practice and specialized skills that characte rize the critical care pharmacist as clinician, educator, researcher, and m anager. This Position Paper recommends fundamental, desirable, and optimal pharmacy services as well as personnel requirements for the provision of ph armaceutical care to critically ill patients.